Human Impact Project

Marianita, a woman held in ICE detention, said sickness spread among detainees while her requests for medical care were ignored. She described being soaked with cold water, forced to dry off in front of an air conditioner, and later confined in a freezing punishment room as her pneumonia worsened. She was transferred through ICE facilities in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas during her detention.

Wendy Vanessa Triviño Carrillo, a Colombian woman from Cúcuta, has been detained for more than nine months at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana. Her father, Luis Eduardo, says she has experienced health problems while in custody and has appealed to the Colombian government and its Foreign Ministry for consular assistance. "We are not asking them to bypass the law. We are asking someone to look at my daughter's case, that someone listen to us," he said. The family is seeking more information about her immigration case, detention conditions, and medical care, and says that if she must return to Colombia they want it handled through proper procedures.

Carlos Rodríguez López, a Cuban national held in ICE detention for 16 months, was deported on a flight to Liberia under a new U.S.-Liberia removal agreement, but upon arrival authorities refused to accept him and instead transported him and other Cubans to a hotel in Equatorial Guinea without documents or a passport. His wife, Igrayne Ribot Hernández, a U.S. citizen who has a nine-year-old daughter and runs a family business, said a habeas corpus petition filed in November 2025 with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana remains unresolved. Ribot said her husband, who has a prior criminal record for which he served time, is being held against his will in a hotel he cannot leave, alongside three other Cubans, one of whom recently had stomach surgery and has an exposed wound.

Five people the U.S. attempted to deport to Liberia this week refused to leave the plane upon landing and were instead flown to Equatorial Guinea, according to sources familiar with the incident. The group included three Cuban men, one Brazilian man, and one Cameroonian woman, who were told they would be returned to the U.S. but were instead forced to disembark in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. They are now being held with more than 30 other migrants previously sent there under a similar third-country deportation deal, which human rights groups have criticized for poor conditions and lack of legal aid.

Liam Tadeo, a 5-year-old just days from starting kindergarten, was detained alongside his father, Victor Martinez Nieto, after federal agents stopped their vehicle in Austin as the two were on their way to a soccer game. They were taken to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, where DHS said they remain together pending Martinez Nieto's removal. Video captured Liam crying as officers arrested his father. His aunt described him in a GoFundMe post as 'a beautiful, intelligent, and big-hearted little boy,' while his mother said the family was devastated. U.S. Rep. Greg Casar publicized the case, calling for Liam's immediate release and the closure of the Dilley facility. Immigration attorney Renata Castro said Liam will likely remain at Dilley for weeks with an uncertain future, and that DHS has made it difficult for attorneys to access clients. DHS said Martinez Nieto, a Mexican national, had previously been arrested and accepted voluntary departure before reentering the country.

Masuma Khan, 64, a Bangladeshi immigrant with no criminal history who arrived in the U.S. in 1997 and has long worked at a local restaurant, was detained at the California City Detention Facility after a routine ICE check-in in October 2025. During her month in custody, she intermittently or never received medications for high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, prediabetes, and glaucoma, receiving asthma medication only two days before release and never getting eye drops; staff told her to buy medications from the commissary, which did not stock them. Since her release, Khan has suffered PTSD and ongoing health issues, and has become fearful of leaving her home. Advocates allege ICE uses intimidation tactics on detainees nearing release, including driving them to airport tarmacs to pressure self-deportation. Supporters are now urging California lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, and Governor Gavin Newsom, to pass SB995, the Masuma Khan Justice Act.

An Iraqi man showing early signs of dementia was arrested by ICE agents in his front yard after living in the United States for more than 30 years. A judge had previously ruled he would likely face persecution or torture if deported to Iraq, granting him legal protection from removal to his home country. Despite that ruling, he was taken into custody and held in Arizona ICE detention facilities. He was among a group of immigrants who remained detained even after winning protection from deportation to their home countries, according to an analysis of habeas corpus petitions.

A Colombian mother was separated from her two young children during a routine ICE check-in in Baltimore, despite a judge having ruled she would likely face torture or persecution if deported to Colombia. She was transferred to the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. An Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting analysis identified her as one of a group of immigrants ICE continued to detain in Arizona even after judges had barred their deportation to their home countries due to humanitarian protections.

Wilmar Quintero, a 50-year-old transgender woman from Venezuela, fled her home country after she said police officers tortured her, carved out her breast implants and left her for dead for speaking out against civil rights abuses. She sought asylum in the United States and was detained for about three months in Michigan, where she said she was sexually assaulted by another migrant and mistreated by staff. Immigration officials deported her to Venezuela in April 2025, where she went into hiding, saying she remains afraid of police there.

Camila Toro de Paula, a 25-year-old transgender woman from Venezuela, has spent 11 months in a men's federal immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana, where she says she has been assaulted, threatened and deprived of medical care, including hormone therapy she had received for years. She was arrested in August 2025 during a routine appointment at ICE's New York City office and flown to Louisiana despite her lawyer's objections that the placement would endanger her. She fled Venezuela after suffering childhood abuse, including being raped repeatedly by relatives and stabbed by police in a homophobic attack, and sought asylum in the United States. Immigration officials cited a criminal history that included felony assault and weapons charges, both of which were later dismissed and sealed.

Immigration lawyer Jodi Ziesemer said one of her clients, arrested by ICE at Denver International Airport, was detained without officers being able to initially explain the reason for the arrest. Agents later told Ziesemer they believed the woman might have had a 2002 deportation order but could not locate any paperwork because it was not a digital file. The client spent six weeks in a detention center before a federal judge ordered her release; Ziesemer represents four immigrants arrested by ICE at the Denver airport in separate cases.

A leaked video shared via TikTok account @Injusticias.de.ICE shows a woman detained at an ICE facility operated by CoreCivic describing conditions inside, stating 'almost all of us here have vaginal infections.' The video was shared by NowThis Impact as testimony about health and sanitation conditions faced by detained women at a CoreCivic-run facility.

Ana Kikabidze and her children, ages 11 and 14, were detained for months at the Dilley immigration detention facility in South Texas before an immigration judge ordered their deportation to Georgia. A federal judge found the Trump administration had repeatedly violated the Flores Settlement by detaining children far beyond legal limits, in some cases over 300 days. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee appointed an independent monitor to oversee detention conditions for children at Dilley and other facilities.

Guillermo Gallardo Barrera, who lived in Arizona for more than 20 years with no criminal record, entered ICE detention able to walk but after more than a year at the Central Arizona ICE Detention Center can no longer stand without a cane. He reports severe pain, numbness in his hands, debilitating insomnia and an undiagnosed disability, saying ICE has only given him ibuprofen for treatment. He filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order in federal court, both of which were denied; an amended habeas petition was also denied in June 2026, allowing his detention to continue while broader legal challenges proceed. A new case against DHS Secretary Noem has since been filed on his behalf. "I'm terrified I won't make it out of here alive," he said. Advocates have launched a fundraiser to secure him an independent medical evaluation and legal support.

José Mejía, a 45-year-old Mexican migrant, said he was detained by ICE agents on August 11 while on his way to work in Arlington, Texas. He said agents shocked him with a stun gun when he tried to flee and then physically assaulted him, leaving him with visible facial injuries. Mejía said he later woke up in a hospital in Washington, where he was admitted for three days due to the severity of his injuries. Days later, he said he still needed medical attention for his injuries but was denied permission to remove his ankle monitor so he could see a doctor.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national living in Maryland with his U.S. citizen family, was unlawfully deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison in March 2025 despite a 2019 court order protecting him from removal due to gang violence risks. The Supreme Court unanimously ordered his return, and he was brought back to the U.S. in June 2025, after which federal prosecutors indicted him on human smuggling charges in Tennessee. Costa Rica offered him refugee status in August 2025, but the administration instead pursued deporting him to African nations, including Liberia, which have resisted. A judge ordered his release from ICE custody in December 2025 after finding government lawyers misled the court, and later blocked his re-detention and deportation to Liberia. A federal judge dismissed the smuggling charges in May 2026 as vindictive retaliation for his legal challenge, but in August 2026 the Justice Department asked the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the charges, a move his attorneys are contesting.

A Guatemalan young man has been held for more than a week in ICE custody at a facility in Miramar, Florida, that is authorized to hold detainees for up to 72 hours, according to his mother. She reports he faces overcrowding and limited access to food and water. He signed voluntary departure paperwork on a Tuesday but remains detained. An activist following the situation says his case is not isolated and that other immigrants have also been held at the facility for several days.

Guillermo "Memo" Gallardo Barrera, a longtime Arizona resident, construction worker and welder who helped raise his two U.S.-born children, has spent over a year in ICE custody at the Florence Correctional Center following a routine traffic stop in Gilbert. His wife and family say he was healthy before detention but now relies on a cane, suffers severe numbness in his hands and worsening pain, and has not received a diagnosis or adequate treatment from facility officials. Advocates from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and Proyecto Progreso say Gallardo has no criminal record and is being denied proper medical care. A federal court denied his attorneys' amended petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking his release. His family fears that without proper medical care or release, he will not survive in custody.

Oscar, a mechanic from the Fredericksburg area, was held under ICE custody at the Rappahannock Regional Jail before being moved through a chain of detention facilities in Virginia, Texas, and Louisiana and deported to El Salvador in 2024, despite having no felony record. He described poor conditions at the jail, being shackled throughout his deportation flight, and being accused of gang membership in El Salvador due to a paperwork error. Deportation Data Project records show 356 people were held under ICE custody at the jail and removed from the country between January 2025 and March 2026, with 67% having no criminal record beyond their immigration status. The jail's policy of querying ICE about foreign-born detainees exceeds what Virginia law requires, and a new state law, the Community Safety and Trust Act, may prohibit such cooperation without a judicial warrant.

Marcos Gaspar Da-Silva, 32, a general contractor from Bridgton, Maine, and a former attorney in Brazil, was detained by ICE agents on January 20 after being pulled over on Franklin Street in Portland during 'Operation Catch of the Day.' He had a pending asylum case, no criminal record according to a Maine state background check, and a green card petition filed by his U.S. citizen wife, Alessia. He spent nearly seven months in detention, transferred through facilities in Massachusetts, Louisiana, and Arizona, where his wife reported overcrowding, poor sanitation, health problems, and difficulty locating him in ICE's detainee tracker. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said her staff supported Alessia, helped expedite her petition, and pressed detention officials about his medical care. An immigration judge granted him lawful permanent resident status in August, and he was released to return to Maine, where a community welcome was planned at Portland International Jetport.

Detainees at the ICE-run Adams County detention center in Mississippi say a mystery gas leak left them with headaches and other symptoms, and they were denied medical care. A subsequent two-day power outage left the facility without air conditioning, forcing detainees to endure hours in near 100F heat or swelter in overcrowded cells. An inspection found 23 use-of-force or restraint violations, downgrading the facility's rating.

Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a 32-year-old Brazilian national, was detained by ICE on July 8, 2026, after overstaying a tourist visa she used to enter the U.S. in 2019. She spent more than a month in federal immigration detention before being placed on a deportation flight to Brazil on August 14. Mid-flight, ICE officers received a phone call and offered Eliaser the choice to return to the U.S. or continue to Brazil; she chose to return and was released from custody. Eliaser is married to Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo, a 43-year-old aviation operations specialist who has served in the Army for over a decade, and they have a 5-year-old son together. Following the incident and subsequent media reporting and Congressional investigation into deportations of military family members, Eliaser has another immigration appointment scheduled to reopen her case and advance her green card application. She reported struggling with trauma from her detention experience.

Adonys Francisco Mata Martinez, a Venezuelan freestyle rapper known as AdonysX who held Temporary Protected Status and had a pending extraordinary-talent artist visa application, was detained by ICE in late May after a traffic stop in Florida in which officers found no violation but identified his immigration status via his license plate. He said, 'We are not criminals for them to treat us this way,' describing five days sleeping on the floor at a Miramar processing center without the ability to bathe, followed by about a month at Krome Detention Center before being transferred with roughly 50 others to a facility in Louisiana. There, he said he works in the kitchen for one dollar a day amid cockroaches and insects, and reported chest pains dismissed as anxiety and a dental nerve problem he tried to self-treat after being denied a dentist. Nearly three months into his Louisiana detention, with his immigration court hearing repeatedly delayed by continuances, he alleged staff are overcrowding detainees—citing 76 people in a single cell—and reported widespread cases of tuberculosis and pink eye, saying in Spanish, 'They're trying to kill us.' ICE denied the allegations, stating that being in detention is a choice.

More than 140 detainees at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma are on a hunger strike to protest insufficient and unsanitary food, lack of medical care, and poor detention conditions. According to La Resistencia, detainees are being denied adequate meals and medical attention by GEO Group, the private company operating the facility, with meal times delayed for hours and food quality described as unacceptable. The detainees are demanding better food and medical care.

Margarita, a woman from New Jersey, was detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center for two months following what was described as a violent arrest. During her detention, she received only about a quarter of her prescribed diabetes medication, and her doctor and pharmacy were not contacted despite her family's concerns. Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-NJ) visited her and raised concerns about her treatment, with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries also expressing concern. Mejia characterized the conditions as a "slow death sentence."

A 9-year-old child with special medical needs and their parent, Adrián Espinoza De La Cruz, were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents on August 11 and are being held at the Havre Border Patrol Station, according to a petition filed in federal court by attorneys with Upper Seven Law. The petition alleges the arrest was made without a judicial warrant and that the facility lacks basic amenities such as proper bedding, despite the family's ties to Billings, where the parent has lived for four years and the child for three years while attending elementary school. The child has upcoming medical appointments, including bloodwork and an ultrasound, that took months to schedule. The U.S. Attorney's Office acknowledged the warrantless arrest but argued releasing the parent and child would not be appropriate, while attorneys are seeking their immediate release or a bond hearing as part of a broader case alleging the government is unlawfully detaining 17 people at the Cascade County Detention Center.

José Mejía Hernandez, a 45-year-old Mexican immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for 18 years, says he was walking to a bus stop on his way to work in Arlington on August 11 when agents in unmarked vehicles chased him. He says he ran out of fear and was shocked with a stun gun, causing him to lose consciousness; he woke up in a hospital with two blackened eyes, facial lacerations, and a brain hemorrhage, where he was hospitalized for three days with ICE officers stationed in his room. His attorney, Carlos Jurado, said Mejía Hernandez has no violent criminal history and had no removal order at the time. DHS disputed his account, saying he was responsive and that officers used necessary force and 'rendered aide' after he tried to evade arrest. He was discharged with an ankle monitor that he says delayed his ability to get a full MRI for more than a week, and he was later diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury at a second hospital. Rep. Don Beyer, Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti, and Commonwealth's Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti have called for an investigation.

Lovejeet Singh, a citizen and national of India, is detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. He first filed a habeas petition and TRO motion on December 17, 2025, after which a district judge ordered an individualized bond hearing and barred his transfer out of the district; an immigration judge subsequently denied bond on the merits. After briefing on the merits, the parties voluntarily dismissed that case without prejudice on August 5, 2026. Six days later, with new counsel, Singh filed a second habeas petition seeking the same relief—immediate release or a bond hearing—along with another emergency TRO application, citing ongoing detention, an unevaluated cardiac abnormality (documented via ECGs showing sinus tachycardia and T wave abnormality), and the lapse of the prior no-transfer order. The magistrate judge denied the TRO application without prejudice, finding no showing of imminent irreparable harm beyond what standard expedited habeas briefing could address, noting Singh's own dismissal created the transfer risk, and pointing to General Order 26-05's two-day transfer notice requirement. The court ordered the government to answer the petition by August 18, 2026, with the matter to be submitted for final disposition shortly after.

Venkata Vasamsetty, a green card holder for nearly three decades, a grandmother, and a special-needs educator with the Wake County Public School System in North Carolina, was detained by ICE on August 11 during a scheduled check-in at the Charlotte ICE office. Her case arose after she traveled to India in July 2022 to care for her seriously ill father, contracted COVID-19, and spent over seven months abroad, leading DHS to allege she had abandoned her permanent residency. She contested the claim with evidence of her home, family, and employment ties in the U.S., and an immigration judge dismissed the case in May after DHS missed a court deadline. Despite the dismissal, she was detained during her follow-up check-in and transferred to Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, where her family says she is severely diabetic and has not received insulin, medications, or proper food. Her daughter, an immigration attorney, pleaded with officers during the arrest, and along with attorney Zoe Wilson and family friends launched a 'Free Venkata' campaign and filed an emergency habeas corpus petition alleging unlawful detention.

Iliana Noeli Lick, 30, an Argentine national who legally entered the U.S. on a tourist visa and was awaiting an asylum interview with USCIS, was arrested by ICE at Philadelphia International Airport on July 11 while attempting to travel to Kansas City to watch the Argentina national team play in the World Cup quarterfinal. Lick has worked as a nanny caring for three young children in South Philadelphia for two years and has no criminal record. She was transferred between multiple ICE detention facilities in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico, where she was held with nine others in a small cell with one window and one toilet. After one month in custody, Lick was released on a $10,000 bond and required to surrender her passport and license and wear an ankle monitor. She is awaiting a court date to determine whether she will be deported or allowed to remain in the country.

Mario, a 33-year resident of the United States, was arrested by ICE agents during a shift at a Santa Ana car wash in August 2025 and held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center for two months. During detention, he slept on cold floors without blankets, toothbrushes, or basic medical care. His wife Alejandra reported agents treated him "worse than a common criminal, with chains binding his legs, arms and waist." Mario refused to sign deportation papers and is fighting to remain in the United States, a process that has drained his family emotionally and financially. He was one of seven workers detained that day but the only one released. At least 373 car wash workers have been detained across Southern California since raids began in summer 2025. Mario said the experience left him traumatized, noting his life is no longer the same.

A leaked video filmed by a detainee inside the River Center ICE Detention Center in Louisiana shows 76 people held together in a single crowded space. Detainees allege exposure to outbreaks of tuberculosis, flu, and conjunctivitis, and say sick people are being placed in punitive isolation cells instead of receiving medical care. The detainee who filmed the footage asked media outlets for help publicizing the conditions.

Daniel Palencia arrived in the United States in 2016 at age 11 with his mother, crossing the Mexico-U.S. border at El Paso, Texas, where they turned themselves in to immigration authorities and sought legal status. He was detained for three months in deplorable conditions, including cold rooms where temperatures dropped at night and blankets were confiscated, and overcrowded holding areas he described as "cages" designed for 4-5 people but sometimes holding 40 individuals where "we were sleeping on top of each other." After being transferred to JK Airport in New York for additional detention, his family hired a lawyer and obtained asylum status. Palencia moved to Southold to live with his grandparents, attended local schools, and has worked for Marcello Masonry for two years. Reflecting on his experience and that of detained coworker Hugo Leonel Ardon Osorio, he stated: "There are bad people out there. But you can't arrest everybody for the way they look or if they speak Spanish. You can't arrest hard-working people who are trying to support their families."

Juan Carlos Maspache, a detainee at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, documented evidence of a cockroach found in his detention cell and shared the video with L.A. TACO. His documentation is part of mounting claims from detainees about inhumane conditions at the facility.

Gabriel Johnson, a 55-year-old pastor from North Carolina who came to the U.S. as a teenager, suffered a stroke while in ICE custody after more than 16 days in detention facilities in Georgia and Texas. According to his family, he repeatedly requested medical care during his detention, claiming he was denied adequate food, water, prescribed medication, and medical attention. Johnson has withholding of removal status, which bars him from being deported to Liberia. After experiencing stroke-like symptoms, he was taken to a hospital in Texas, but ICE has not provided his family with information about his medical care or condition since his hospitalization. The family has filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General.

Laura Rojas Ortiz, a 21-year-old mother, was detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas for more than 40 days while five months pregnant with a high-risk pregnancy. She was detained during a routine ICE check-in in Dallas while in the process of applying for a U visa after being shot at in her neighborhood, despite regularly appearing for check-ins while wearing an ankle monitor. During her detention, Rojas Ortiz did not receive an ultrasound, specialist care, or blood tests despite her high-risk pregnancy status. Her mother, Paola, reported that her infant son, who has a lactose intolerance, was given whole milk at the facility. According to family accounts, facility staff moved her to a medical room during a congressional visit, then removed her when lawmakers left. Advocacy groups including Each Step Home provided commissary support to help her purchase food for her children.

The Guardian's investigation reveals at least 10 cases since January 2025 in which ICE subjected detained immigrants to involuntary force-feeding through nasogastric tubes. Three cases are detailed: an Afghan man force-fed daily for nearly six months at Port Isabel in Texas starting September 2025; Andriy Shepitsen, a Ukrainian man with severe bipolar disorder, whose attorney intervened to stop his force-feeding at Krome Service processing center in Miami after 44 days on hunger strike; and a Saudi Arabian woman who went on hunger strike in Louisiana in June 2025 and was transferred to Texas, where ICE sought permission to force-feed her before she broke her strike. Medical experts and human rights organizations have condemned force-feeding as torture. In six of the 10 cases reviewed, detained immigrants lacked legal representation during court proceedings, and most records remain sealed.

Kuya Rob, a Filipino migrant father, was detained by ICE in California and has been held for more than 400 days at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington. His detention has separated him from his son and elderly mother. Advocates with the Tanggol Migrante Movement have organized a petition campaign, gathering over 439 signatures, citing detention conditions and what they describe as neglect by the Philippine Consulate.

Valentín, a hardworking family man, was detained by ICE for more than seven months in inhumane conditions. During his detention, he endured days without meals and was served cold or contaminated food, including food with worms. He was separated from his family with minimal meaningful communication and was unable to be present when his daughter gave birth, learning only later in custody that he had a newborn granddaughter. After his eventual release and reunification with his family, Valentín faces significant accumulated debt as he works to rebuild their lives.

Migrant children as young as six years old were detained at the Homestead facility adjacent to Homestead Air Reserve Base, a Superfund site with arsenic and lead contamination, according to over 20,000 pages of records released in federal litigation. The facility, which closed in 2019, also exposed children to constant noise from F-16C fighter jets. Some children detained there were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. The federal government agreed to pay legal fees after the lawsuit concluded, with environmental and social justice groups citing the case as part of a nationwide pattern of migrants held in harmful environments.

Gabriel Johnson, a pastor and father who had legal status since age 15, was arrested by ICE in Cary, North Carolina. According to his family, ICE denied him consistent food, water, and necessary medications for over 16 days while in custody. Johnson suffered a stroke on July 30th, resulting in complete paralysis of the left side of his body. His family reports ICE agents refused to allow hospital staff to contact his daughter and has since denied the family visits, phone calls, or health updates. An emergency stay of removal has been filed on his behalf.

Andre Kalyakin entered the United States legally on a J-1 exchange visitor visa more than sixteen years ago and married a U.S. citizen. He is currently detained by ICE at Winn Correctional Center and reports being denied basic medical care, given spoiled milk, and brown tapwater while in custody. Kalyakin wrote a letter describing his detention conditions.

Edwin Jovanny López Cornejo, a 39-year-old Salvadoran national who had lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, died August 1, 2026, at University Hospital in Newark following a medical emergency at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility. He suffered from epilepsy, diabetes, and high blood pressure requiring daily medication, and leaves behind a 12-year-old U.S. citizen daughter, Ashley. ICE arrested him June 18, 2026, in Plainfield, New Jersey, reviving a 2006 deportation order, though his family said he held a valid work permit. His mother, Maria Cornejo, said he called her feeling very ill with numbness in his face and hand after seeing a facility medical provider, and described him as hardworking and a good father, saying, "I lost him to the hands of immigration authorities." The ACLU of New Jersey and his family allege he was denied adequate medical care, which DHS denies, stating he received proper treatment. His death was the second at Delaney Hall since it opened in May 2025, following months of detainee complaints and lawsuits alleging denial of medication, and prompted Governor Mikie Sherrill and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka to call for the facility's closure.

Blerim Skoro, a citizen of Kosovo, was granted deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) on November 9, 2022. He was detained by immigration authorities at the Newark Field Office and filed a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 on August 3, 2026, challenging the legality of his detention. Skoro argued he is being wrongfully held under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b) and sought release or a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). The court noted there is no indication Skoro is currently in removal proceedings, and clarified that a CAT grant does not preclude detention or removal to a third country. The court denied Skoro's motion for a temporary restraining order without prejudice, finding insufficient facts to determine whether his detention is lawful under 8 U.S.C. § 1231. The court declined to dismiss the petition and ordered an expedited briefing schedule, requiring the government to file a full answer within 7 days addressing the statutory basis for detention. A prior stay of transfer from the District of New Jersey, entered by the Chief Judge, remains in effect during the proceedings.

Claudia Rodríguez, a 29-year-old Venezuelan immigrant who earned her master's degree in business administration from St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, was detained by ICE at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in July while attempting to board a flight to North Carolina. Rodríguez arrived in the U.S. legally in 2017 on a tourist visa, applied for asylum within six months, and was granted Temporary Protected Status in 2023 while her asylum case remains pending. She was transferred between two South Florida detention facilities, spending eight days at the ICE office in Miramar in severely overcrowded conditions—sleeping on floors in a cell with 75 people, unable to shower or change clothes, and losing 15 pounds. Her cousin Gabriel Domínguez described her as an exemplary athlete with no criminal record. U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz visited the Miramar facility to advocate for her release, calling the detention "unacceptable." Rodríguez was released on Monday evening.

A Guardian investigation found that the Trump administration's ICE officials attempted to subject at least 10 hunger strikers in immigrant detention to involuntary medical procedures including force-feeding between 2025 and 2026. At least three detainees were definitely subjected to force-feeding, and two more were probably forced to undergo the procedures, while five others ended their hunger strikes before the procedures began. DHS obtained court orders authorizing detention center guards to physically restrain hunger strikers while medical staff inserted feeding tubes and performed other involuntary procedures considered torture by human rights groups.

Carlitos Ricardo Parias, detained at the Adelanto ICE facility near Los Angeles, revealed video footage showing a bottle of drinking water apparently contaminated with worm-like creatures or larvae. The footage emerged weeks after a federal judge ordered ICE to ensure 24-hour access to clean drinking water at the facility in response to a class-action lawsuit alleging dangerous conditions including inadequate food, contaminated water, and poor medical care. Parias preserved the contaminated water as evidence after staff distributed it to detained residents.

Ana Granados Sanchez, a 49-year-old Salvadoran national held in ICE's Eloy Detention Center, was deported while still having a nephrostomy tube (urine-collection tube) attached to her body, three months after it was surgically placed. Her urologist at Banner Desert Medical Center had advised against deportation until the tube could be removed, and Granados Sanchez requested to see her specialist in person to have it taken out before leaving the country, citing concerns about medical care availability where she was being deported. While in ICE custody, she did not receive recommended follow-up care. During her detention, she was held in a processing facility with about two dozen other people and forced to use a shared toilet with no privacy, and was not given water at the initial processing center—conditions her urologist said may have contributed to her kidney problems. Advocates' efforts to appeal to ICE to delay her deportation were unsuccessful. The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project opposed the deportation, citing medical neglect and danger to her health.

Josue Aldair Alfaro Herrera, a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) petitioner, filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his prolonged civil immigration detention at Aurora Contract Detention Facility after ICE renewed his removal proceedings despite his SIJS status. The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted the petition, finding that his prolonged detention violated his constitutional rights and the Administrative Procedure Act. The Court ordered ICE to immediately release Petitioner from immigration detention.

Country music singer Frank Ray publicly disclosed that his brother-in-law, Juan Nevarez, a Mexican national with a valid work visa, was arrested by ICE at El Paso airport on Thanksgiving Day. Nevarez was detained at an ICE facility in Otero County, New Mexico, pending a hearing to determine his immigration status. DHS cited a criminal record from a 2023 dispute, though most charges were dropped and only a misdemeanor trespassing conviction remained. Nevarez's wife and four U.S. citizen children await resolution of the case.